Electric brake controllers are a great safety aid when towing large or heavy trailers as they greatly improve the co-ordination of braking between the vehicle and the trailer, reducing stopping distances and reducing dangerous trailer/vehicle interactions. They usually allow automatic control, user set proportionality or manual application of trailer brakes, however on more modern vehicles some thought needs to go into the details of the fitment and wiring.
We have seen issues to highlight in relation to installing an Electric Brake Controller (in this case a Redarc Tow-Pro) into a post 2018 Ford Ranger or Everest fitted with Autonomous Emergency Braking (some of this may apply to other vehicles with similar systems).
Common problems seen on these vehicles when no trailer is attached to the vehicle.
• Trailer warning lamp on with no trailer detected.
• Dashboard indicator pilot light flash at a faster rate.
• Logged fault codes relating to brake light circuit.
• Reverse Sensor/alarm does not operate.
• Reverse Guidance/Camera does not function correctly.
Safety issues created:
If using a standard installation (wiring kit) when the AEB system applies the vehicle brakes, the brake pedal and therefore the brake pedal switch are not activated, meaning that in an AEB emergency braking situation, the trailer brakes WILL NOT BE ACTIVATED, increasing the stopping distance of the vehicle/trailer, possibly resulting in a collision.
As the trailer socket brake light pin will always be activated, whether by foot pedal or by AEB, the brake controller must be triggered from this point rather than the brake light switch as used in non AEB vehicles.
Fix:
Install the EBC using the Redarc TPWKIT-012 wiring kit which is specifically for these vehicles which utilises a Signal Conditioning Module to ensure there is no interference with the vehicle’s electronics, onboard monitoring, and safety equipment.
This also ensures ADR compliance which requires the trailer brake lights to operate when pressing the Electric brake override, if an installation doesn’t support this operation, then it’s not ADR compliant.
Available from NAPA Auto Parts branches nationwide. Call the team with the Know How on 0800 800 073.
